Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
Asian quake called worse than tsunami in some ways By Paul Jeffrey
(CNS PHOTO FROM REUTERS)
Kashmirian earthquake survivors sit in a makeshift hospital in a refugee camp in Pakistan-administered Kashmir Nov. 21. Humanitarian aid agencies are in a race against winter weather to provide tents and provisions for some 3 million people left homeless by the Oct. 8 earthquake.
MANSEHRA, Pakistan (CNS) — In some ways, the earthquake that devastated northern Pakistan and parts of India Oct. 8 was worse than last year’s tsunami, yet the international community’s response has lagged far behind its response to the tsunami, said a top Catholic relief official in the region. While the tsunami had a higher initial death toll, the logistical difficulties of reaching remote villages in Pakistan’s mountainous north, especially with the onset of winter, mean the quake death toll — 77,000 — is expected to climb, said Kevin Hartigan, Catholic Relief Services’ regional director for South Asia. He described “valley after valley of destruction, which has limited the ability of people to help each other.” He said relief workers fear they will be unable to reach thousands of victims who, as a result, will perish in the bitter winter weather. In a telephone interview from his office in Delhi, India, Hartigan told Catholic News Service that the large number of those left wounded by the quake also “leaves a big burden on society in the coming years.” Hartigan said the global outpouring of support for tsunami victims was an anomaly. ASIAN QUAKE, page 8
Head of U.S. Bishops Conference calls Vatican Instruction “Christian realism” By Catholic San Francisco Staff The Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education and Seminaries Nov. 29 released a long awaited document entitled “Instruction on the Criteria for Vocational Discernment with Regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in View of Their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders.” The nine-page document said the church cannot ordain men who are active homosexuals, who have “deeply rooted” homosexual tendencies or who support the “gay culture.” Those who have overcome “transitory” homosexual tendencies, however, could be ordained, it said.
An “Instruction” is an official statement by a Congregation of the Roman Curia, issued with the approval of the Pope, which usually contains norms to be observed. An Instruction does not include new teaching, but is meant to confirm and clarify. Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, called the Instruction of the Holy See on the admission of men with deeply-rooted homosexual tendencies to seminaries and to Holy Orders “a timely document.” In his statement on the release of the Instruction, Bishop Skylstad said,
“We live in an era when the issue of sexual orientation is much discussed.” He went on to say that the Church affirms “the dignity of all human beings and the respect that should be shown all people irrespective of sexual orientation,” while also teaching that “God has given this gift [of sexuality] to humanity to bring about a loving relationship between a man and a woman in the lifelong union of a marriage open to the creation of new life.” Bishop Skylstad said that, in the Instruction, “the Congregation for Catholic Education is exercising a Christian realism about what is expect-
ed in candidates for the priesthood. This realism understands the challenges of our time.” He noted that “it expresses the valid concern that all candidates must display an ‘affective maturity’ which enables them to relate properly to others as chaste, celibate priests who can faithfully represent the teaching of the Church about sexuality, including the immorality of homosexual genital activity.” Thus “it is certainly not acceptable if a candidate practices homosexuality or, whether active or not, if he identifies himself principally by a homosexual CHRISTIAN REALISM page 7
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION Violence in the City . . . . . . 3 News-in-brief . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Second Sunday of Advent
Fort Benning protest . . . . . 6
Dec. 4
Datebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
December 2, 2005
Commentary . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Scripture and reflection . 10-11
Christmas giving opportunites
Jubilarians 2005 – Part I
‘Harry Potter’ review . . . . . 22
~ Pages 12 – 13 ~
~ Pages 14 – 19 ~
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No. 37